ST. GEORGE — While many of Utah's colleges played musical coaches, Dixie State finished the 2004 football season as the model of stability.
Of course, that's all going to change soon.
The Rebels ended their 2004 junior-college campaign 10-2 and ranked No. 4 in the National Junior College Athletic Association poll. They won their 14th Dixie Rotary Bowl (in 18 tries). And they discovered yet another star at tailback in Seattle freshman J.T. Diederichs.
The model of consistency. Oh yeah, and they announced they'll be moving up to NCAA Division II in less than three years.
"I'm not a young guy, and this is like my wife announcing she's pregnant," Dixie State coach Greg Croshaw said. "I may be a little long in the tooth to be raising a new baby."
With the move to Division II, the Rebels will face a whole new set of rules for recruiting and academics. And with D-II conferences like the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference coming around campus, change is certainly in the air.
With Division II status, Dixie State would also participate in that level's playoff system, thus spelling an end to the Dixie Rotary Bowl as it now operates. And with the bowl, the 23-year head coach of the college may move on as well.
"I don't know a lot about all that, but things will certainly be different," Croshaw said. "We've always said we were going to stay here in St. George until our kids were raised, and they're all out of high school now. So we'll see."
Despite the uncertain future, Croshaw looked back on this past season with fondness. Well, sort of.
The veteran coach was wiped out in a sideline collision early in the year, tearing ligaments in his knee and breaking a bone in his leg. Within a week, he underwent surgery and spent the rest of the season on crutches.
"I didn't feel like I did as good a job as I could have had I been healthy," he said.
That became evident when the normally stalwart Dixie State defense gave up 51 points in a win against Arizona Western and 45 points in a loss to Glendale.
The Rebels ended up finishing ninth out of 10 teams in defense in the Western States Football League. And yet they found a way to win.
"I'm proud of my guys and the way they hung in there," Croshaw said. "There's no quit in this team. Even when we lost to Glendale, which gave us no chance to win the national championship and not much chance to win the league."
Late in the year, sophomore quarterback Danny Southwick (Provo) struggled with consistency, but freshman Derek McAllister (St. George) filled in admirably.
Sophomore Ryan Larsen (Layton), who arrived at Dixie State as a tight end, became a solid lead blocker at fullback for recently named all-American tailback Diederichs.
Freshman placekicker Skyler Campbell, also from Layton, earned honorable-mention all-America after making 9 of 13 field goals and 52 extra points in 2004.
Tight end Walt Nickel, a sophomore from Tacoma, Wash., was named second-team all-America. He was part of an impressive offensive line that featured twin tackles Scott and Paul Fisher (St. George) and guard/center Mark Tayler (Ogden).
Dixie State's defense was anchored by linebacker Misiovala Tupe and Taylor Ownbey (Gainesville, Ga.). Brothers Mike and Travis Barney (Orem) were part of a defensive backfield that featured Josh Redd (Orem), Zac Erekson (Springville), Robbie Dias (St. George) and Cornelius Dillard (Detroit).
Most of that group will be gone due to graduation or LDS missions, but the defense will be anchored next year by Tupe, Dillard and linebacker Gene Fakatoumafi.
Although the not-to-distant future brings a big change for the Rebels, next year Croshaw and his staff hope to put together a team that can again challenge for the NJCAA national championship.
"We have some excellent players back, starting with our thoroughbred horse, J.T.," Croshaw said. "We'll have a lot of holes to fill, especially on the offensive line and on defense. But we'll hit the trail running."